Dang Bagels

Why oh why can’t I stop eating a bagel each morning?? Stupid work cafeteria. They taste so good, are the equivalent of like 4 pieces of bread, and just make me hungry when I finish them. They are bad news. Giving up bagels is a goal of mine. Some people struggle with smoking, but I struggle with bagels.

Smoothie this morning was 1 orange, ½ bag frozen peaches, romaine, kale and three sprigs of mint, water of course for consistency. Thanks to the book, Green for Life, by Victoria Boutenko we now skip the glass and go right to the jug of smoothie. It does energize me in the morning (until I eat my bagel). Lunch consisted of a small, fat free refried bean burrito. It was supposed to consist of a salad of Romaine, cut up fresh, local asparagus, and some Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette. The vinaigrette ruined it. I guess some people like it or they would not make it, but it was gross!! I think I will stick to homemade next time. Still ate the asparagus, yummm! Apple, nuts, and coffee for afternoon snack. Dinner was a faux Reuben using tempeh. I think I have had too many of these and am over it. It was good while it lasted.

The best news, while my boyfriend and Butch were at agility practice, I ran a little bit with Bella. Huge strides... well baby steps. I also got in all my supplements today while I was at work: Calcium, Vitamin D, B12, and my multivitamin. Also remembered my thyroid pill before work. So far so good.

Not What I Seem

Most people look at me and think I am a really healthy person. I am vegan. They see me munching on carrot sticks and drinking green smoothies because I can’t eat the krispy kreme donuts people bring into work. I am always skinny (at least till you see me in a swimming suit). I go to Yoga. I use reusable shopping bags. I adopted both of our dogs. I go hiking. I bought a kayak. I went to the climbing gym for a period. However, I have a secret. I am not as healthy or as good of a person as I seem.

There is a running joke in the family that, one summer in High School, I lived solely on a cream cheese dip and chips. Healthy I know. My years in the dorms in college consisted of nachos, pizza, and the usual fare. Fast forward to my “career” and the corporate cafeteria did not help much with cheap omelets, breakfast sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and fried chicken sandwiches. Then Hello, Thyroid condition and pills for the rest of my life! Thanks to my genes, I never really gained that much, but I was completely unhealthy on the inside. This farm girl decided to go vegetarian…. Because true farm girls love animals too much to eat them! This just lead to me eating pounds of cheese, though. I read skinny bitch on the way home for Christmas in 2008. That was it. I went vegan. I realized the suffering of dairy animals and laying hens. My long term boyfriend went vegan cold turkey (no pun intended)! I was feeling great! Then, I started to be lazy and became an unhealthy vegan. Sure, I had my good weeks in which we ate raw, devouring tons of kale and fresh veggies, but then I would eat a giant bag of chips and vegan chocolate all the next week. Not only that, but I use toxic self tanner, deodorant, and anything else where I feel the “natural” version will make me look unkempt to others.

The same goes with my exercising. I joined the climbing gym in town, got a pricey personal trainer, I was getting toned! Then I had an off week and fell out of the flow of it. Luckily, I have mostly kept up with my Yoga which is teaching me to not only be a healthier me but also a better me. I am striving to stop judging others, getting so stressed out, craving new bought items like clothing I don’t need. However, I do not get regular cardio, my boyfriend walks the dogs, works in our garden, etc. The problem is that everything is connected. I don’t eat well so I don’t have the energy to exercise or to remember to take my supplements.

I also intend to help the earth be a healthier place. Thanks to my boyfriend, we have a compost pile. He is in the process of going to a class to make a rain barrel. He keeps a garden, use organic cleaning products, etc. Not much of this is my doing though. I get the paper cups at work for my water each day because I am too forgetful to bring a water bottle. I need to stop being lazy and contribute to our green way of life. Once again, exercising and eating right would give me the energy to participate in extra activities.

Please don’t intend this to be a recipe blog. I do not cook as you might have guessed, or you have not been reading closely! My boyfriend is a great cook so any food mentioned is probably his doing. I should actually plan on making at least one or two meals a week and sharing them with you. Mostly, I hope that maybe someone will follow along with me on my journey to becoming a better me and are inspired to make a change themselves. Also, never judge someone by their cover.